My previous articlediscussed the evolution of political parties in the early 1850s, both nationally and in Hunterdon County. The Democratic party was still going strong, while the Whig party was fading away and two new parties had come on the scene: the Republican party and the American party, better known as the Know Nothings.
I am going to step away briefly from the life of John C. Hopewell to shed some light on a political movement that Hopewell and many other Flemington notables got caught up in.
Downtown Flemington, part two
From about 1855 until his death in 1888, a one-time hatter’s apprentice brought the village of Flemington into the modern era by providing an improved public water system, street lighting with gas instead of candles, a functioning fire company, improved streets and sidewalks, and more.
One never knows when an article by Egbert T. Bush might come in handy. In this case, it turns out to be very handy for the research I am doing on Flemington in the 19th century.
After existing for 166 years, through the thick and thins of the American economy, the Hunterdon County National Bank that once was a mainstay on Flemington’s Main Street was taken over by a much bigger national bank in 1983. The HCNB had occupied its beautiful building for nearly that long, about 157 years.
part 15, and last chapter, of The Route Not Taken
This is the last of my series on the route planned for the Delaware Flemington Railroad Company, a rail line that was never built. In the survey, the train is finally approaching the station. But to get there it must traverse the properties of John C. Hopewell and William Hill, two prominent gentlemen who probably were not supporters of the railroad company.
